Thursday, August 09, 2012

Wonderful: Facebook moves into online gambling

I didn't think running an electronic gambling establishment (even for other countries) was legal in the U.S., but what do I know?

Facebook has launched a bingo game that uses real money, only for users over age 18, in the UK. The "Bingo & Slots Friendzy" app has 90 slot machine and bingo games that take real money, not Facebook Credits.

The move could be a money maker for the company as Facebook takes 30% of the revenue. UK-based Gamesys, the app developer, will take the other 70% of revenue. Certainly it seems a positive move given all the negative attention the company has recieved.

In true Facebook fashion, activity on the app will appear in users' timelines, but Facebook's age-gating and geo-location technology will restrict those posts from appearing to underage users and those outside the UK.

Kewl! And maybe the app will automatically update the player's status to read, "I've got a serious gambling problem... please arrange an intervention for me!"



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